4.05.2006

BIKE GANGS EVERYWHERE ALL THE TIME

(photos from Slaughterama 3 hosted by the richmond Cutthroats. a lot more here.)

i just spent two days straight editing until my eyes crusted over. all to bring you these pics of the Slaughterama. so you better like 'em. and now the recap of my visit to richmond:

- i missed Municipal Waste the first night i was there due to an inopportune flat tire courtesy of the "bridge of glass." so no photos of the insane mosh pit or the topless stage-diving punk girls. oh well, your loss. (however they are playing thursday at the Hi-Five club in brooklyn, so if you think you're up to it, i'd go check it out)- i tried to ride in Critical Mass, but apparently it has pretty much been abandoned by the activists/punks in richmond. one guy talked about how he used to organize it, but has nothing to do with it now since "it's been taken over by affluent white kids." i don't really want to get in to pointing out how dumb and self-defeating that is, but i guess coming from nyc i'm appreciative of anyone that's on my side. i don't really feel i can be picky about who's on my team, we need all the help we can get. anyway, i went to ride with richmond-guide-extrodinare Walker, but there wasn't anyone there. we waited for a while and were besieged by some christians trying to save our souls through prayer and fancy motorcycles. i have to admit the little kids asking me if i wanted to be saved and would i pray with them melted my usually gruff nyc stature. but in the end i won out by just being nice and friendly. about six other people eventually showed up to ride, but they got into it pretty hard with the christians. after a while Walker and i got tired of listening to them bicker and left to watch the scavenger hunt race.- i was propositioned by a strange looking prostitute (think african-american 50s housewife motif) who then actually followed me back to where i was staying and hung out on the porch until someone finally shooed her away.- i learned about a girl who knits pouches for your bike specifically to carry rocks in. . . to throw at reckless drivers. guess what everyone's getting for xmas this year.- i also heard stories of the random and violent streak that seems to run through richmond. one story was of a guy getting hit by a car, on purpose, and then being laughed at as he laid in the street in agony with a broken pelvis. it was explained to me this way: brooklyn is violent, but it's all business. richmond is violent, but there's no rhyme or reason to it. it's just violence for the sake of violence. - i also got (drunkenly) called the photo-equivalent of Aaron Cometbus. which i took as a compliment, and kind of seems to offset the criticism i received just before i left. but the person was also wasted, so i think even taking it with a small grain of salt might be a bit much for this one.- oh yeah and there was this bike thing going on, with events like Six-pack Attack, Foot Down, Chicken-fight Racing, Whiplash, Bike Toss, the BMX Harness, Chariot Racing, Tall Bike Jousting, and a performance by portland's Sprockettes. and there was an afterparty with Death Set, Show Me The Pink, and Free Cocaine (mosh pit madness) with a great dance party courtesy of Mr. Stache and Dirty Fingers from Black Label. go check out the pics already.

i heard to a fair bit of metal down at SXSW. kinda reminded me that i do enjoy a nice dose of the dark and fast side of things now and again. and thus, we have The Sword. self-described as sounding like "a bunch of bison being pushed over a cliff," i'd say it's probably closer to Sabbath. it's dark, it's heavy, it's got wolves howling, it's how metal should be done.

2 comments:

Todd!your photos are amazing, as always. what would we do if we didn't have you documenting this crazy life we're all living. i hope you had super rad fun in richmond. fuck all those haters, their just jealous. keep doing what you're doing. you're able to catch people in the most crucial moments, the expression that fully captures someone's personality. if someone doesn't like your photos, they don't deserve to look at them, and obviously have no idea where they're all coming from, or what they mean. most likely, they've never been to these events that you photograph.they don't understand!spending time complaining about something means they care about it in some way or another.i show your photos to my grandma and she loves them so there!-heartBrandy Gump